Homework - Success in School Begins at Home

Homework — work a student does at home without the monitoring of the teacher — is an important part of the school day. Homework is about learning to be self-disciplined. Homework is about learning to manage time and materials. Homework is about becoming an independent learner. And homework is about taking oneself seriously.

But let’s face it. Homework is WORK. Sometimes it is complicated or difficult. Most of the time, it is not the first thing on the list of things your child wants to do after school. At least some of the time, it also requires us as parents to pitch in when we would rather just sit and read the paper or watch TV, not help with long division or quiz the spelling list.

If we let ourselves off the homework hook, we lose a major opportunity to teach our children a positive attitude about work and about themselves as workers. These values are just too important to leave to chance.

If seeing notebooks and the paraphernalia of studying triggers anxiety, nausea, and a flight response in you, it’s time to give yourself a long-overdue pep talk. You are a grownup now. You are old enough to know that homework doesn’t have to be hateful. You can do something for your kids that no one did for you — you can help them to be curious about assignments and help them to feel good about themselves when the job is done well.

Family rules are important

Household rules let everyone in the family know how to behave. They help family members achieve a balance between getting what they want and respecting the needs of others. They can also help children and teenagers feel safe and secure.

Rules can help your family members get along better, and make family life more peaceful. Effective rules are positive statements about how your family wants to look after and treat its members.

When rules are stated clearly and unambiguously, they help:

·         children and young people learn where the limits are, and what’s expected of them

·         adults be consistent in the way they treat younger family members.

Help your child to be safe in traffic

Children act differently in traffic than adult

Children are children, not young adults. It’s important to understand children’s limitations in understanding traffic.

Specifically, children:

·    Have a narrower field of vision than adults, about 1/3 less.

·    Cannot easily judge a car’s speed and distance.

·    Assume that if they see a car, its driver must be able to see them. However, children are easily hidden from view by parked cars and other objects.

·    Cannot readily tell the direction a sound is coming from.

·    May be impatient and impulsive.

·    Concentrate on only one thing at a time. This is likely not to be traffic.

·    Have a limited sense of danger.

·    Often mix fantasy with reality.

·    Imitate the (often bad) behavior of others, especially older children and adults.

Allowances for Children

Allowances can help children understand the concept of budgeting and saving, but we have to teach them. A regular allowance helps kids take responsibility for spending decisions and encourages independence. Instead of getting money 'on demand' whenever they need it, children with regular allowances can learn to plan ahead--to anticipate spending needs and make choices about what's most important.

What Experts Say About Allowances for Children

What age?
If you decide to give an allowance, start one as soon as your children start recognizing money's worth--kids do this fairly early.

Don't give an allowance until children are old enough to manage it. You don't have to give one until your children are at least six years old. There's no need to rush things and preschoolers generally don't understand the abstract idea of money anyway. Once children start first grade they begin learning about money in school.

Keep the system simple so you can manage it. Denying kids an allowance doesn't make it easier to limit the amount of money they get their hands on. Because most children will get the money out of parents anyway, it's better to teach them how to manage it themselves than allow them to nickel and dime you to death. Plus, using an allowance gives parents and children more control over the children's finances.

Parents, children and social networks

These days, many kids draw little distinction between real life and online life. They may use social websites designed for children such as Webkinz or Club Penguin, or social websites designed for adults such as Windows Live Spaces, YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, and others. Whatever they're doing, they should understand that many of these web pages can be viewed by anyone with access to the Internet.

Do pets prevent allergies?

Why are allergies becoming more common?

No one knows for sure. There are various theories why this might be, with the “hygiene hypothesis” representing the most popular reason. The “hygiene hypothesis” refers to the fact that in our clean, modern society, our immune systems no longer have to fight off multiple infections during childhood. The absence of infections results in the immune system shifting away from an “infection fighting” stance towards an “allergies” stance.

These two different stances represent opposites as far as our immune system is concerned.

Who is to blame for the children obesity?

Obesity in kids has reached epidemic levels. Experts estimate that 15% of kids are overweight and another 15% are at risk of becoming overweight. And two-thirds of these overweight kids will become overweight adults.

Who or what is to blame for the rise in obesity?

It depends on who you ask.

TV and children obesity

Did you know? There is no waking activity that we do that burns fewer calories than watching TV? The more television children watch, the more likely they are to snack between meals and want the foods advertised on commercials. Find out alternatives to watching TV and how to get your child moving.

TV Ads and Childhood Obesity
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that children are often snacking on food while watching their favorite television show. Snacking while watching TV contributes to poor eating habits. A child, between the ages of 2-17, watches television on average, 3 1/2 hours a day or 25 hours each week. The maximum amount recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics is two (2) hours of television each day.